The series of podcasts about the Gulf oil spill that we started at the beginning of June continues on this episode of Teachers Teaching Teachers.

We are joined by Alicia Blair a 5th grade science teacher from Mississippi who has been an important voice on many of these podcasts this summer.

It was also a delight to listen to Ann Dobie, author, professor, and former Writing Project Director from Louisiana.

Ann Brewster Dobietaught at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette for thirty-eight years, where she is now professor emerita of English. She directed graduate studies in rhetoric and the university’s writing-across-the-curriculum program. She is the author or coauthor of six college writing textbooks and author of numerous articles on literature and composition. She is the editor of Something in Common: Contemporary Louisiana Stories,Uncommonplace: An Anthology of Contemporary Louisiana Poets, and Wide Awake in the Pelican State: Stories by Contemporary Louisiana Writers. Ann received her doctorate in the teaching of writing from Columbia University.

Biography on http://anndobie.com Given our interest to work with teachers in the Gulf to collect the stories of students there, take a look at this description of Ann Dobie’s newest book, Fifty-Eight Days in the Cajundome Shelter, which was published in 2008.

Fifty-Eight Days in the Cajundome Shelter

Hurricanes Katrina and Rita destroyed thousands of homes, schools, and businesses across the Gulf Coast and changed the face of southeast Louisiana forever. However, nearly a hundred miles northwest of New Orleans, in Lafayette, Louisiana, a different story was unfolding. As men, women, and children waited on their roofs for rescue, executive director Greg Davis hurried to prepare the Cajundome in Lafayette as an emergency shelter.

The workers and volunteers in the Cajundome provided food, showers, and medical care to more than eighteen thousand evacuees that came to Lafayette. From the first busloads of newly homeless to the disasters caused by Hurricane Rita, “Fifty-Eight Days in the Cajundome Shelter” shares personal accounts of heartache and joy, tragedy and triumph. For the first time, here is a collection of the stories of the volunteers and evacuees. Their heroism, courage, and despair are etched into these stories as they endured the first few weeks in a hurricane-ravaged world.

Retold here is the bravery and leadership of Donald Williams as he took charge and led a convoy of handicapped and elderly to safety. Readers will also be captivated by the unforgettable story of the Prevost family as they climbed their way to the roof of their home and their heartbreaking journey to dry land on I-10. The author includes her own personal accounts of what really happened in the aftermath of Katrina and the bravery and selflessness of countless people who struggled to make a difference.

We are excited about the number of teachers who have joined us this summer for this exploration into how we can be good neighbors with our friends in the Gulf Coast. Al Doyle, a NYC teacher of gaming, joined us from the woods of a summer camp in Maine, and a new teacher Rebecca from Pennsylvania, had some things to say as well.

Some of the things to listen for in this podcast are some of the reasons we have been working with Bill Fitzgerald at FunnyMonkey to build an extension of our Youth Voices site. Two quotes from this podcast help define our mission for Voices on the Gulf:

I think sometimes when your there at that Ground Zero, if I can borrow that phrase, it's a little overwhelming. But I talked with several people and got together with our [Writing Project] director, and we just had a real brainstorm. And we went back again to our experience with Katrina. What did we end up doing? Not that we ever planned any of these things. It was more the spontaneous improv sort of thing. So we went back and we looked at the things that had been successful, and thought about what we would like to do for the oil spill. This time planning, with the goal being: We want to publish! We would like to do that this time.... This whole experience that we've had this summer in trying to brainstorm how to bring student voices out has really inspired us to take the initiative, instead of waiting until we see it through like we did with the hurricane, to make those efforts.
--Alicia Blair, high school science teacher and member of the Live Oak Writing Project, University of Southern Mississippi, Gulf Coast

In Louisiana after Katrina and Rita our [Writing Project] sites published any number of anthologies of student writing about those hurricanes, and about what it meant to live through the hurricanes, but even more so, through the clean up and the rebuilding. I have no doubt that that's going to happen again because our teachers always capitalize on those things which are happening in students' lives and their families' lives, and use those as sources of writing and a kind of catharsis. I have no doubt that it will happen.
--Ann Dobie, professor emerita of English, University of Louisiana, director of the Louisiana Writing Project State Network and former director of the National Writing Project of Acadiana

Click Read more to see a copy of the chat that was happening during the webcast.

20:47:34 Paul Allison: http://paulallison.tumblr.com/post/839163190/ann-dobie-will-be-one-of-ou...
20:47:40 Paul Allison: http://www.nwp.org/cs/public/print/nwp_au/228
20:47:46 Paul Allison: http://www.anndobie.com/Ann_Brewster_Dobie/Welcome.html
21:00:27 SusanEttenheim: hi vicky - welcome!
21:00:48 Vicky Sedgwick @visionsbyvicky: Thanks.
21:01:15 dlaufenberg: hello all...
21:01:23 SusanEttenheim: hi al! can I call you into the skype call?
21:01:52 aldoyle: Hello all, Al from a cabin in Maine under severe thunderstrom warnings...
21:02:00 SusanEttenheim: wow
21:02:03 aldoyle: yes Skype me in at sports_mind
21:02:05 SusanEttenheim: do you have skype?
21:02:08 SusanEttenheim: ok!
21:02:19 Rebecca: skype me at rebecca.drazdowski
21:02:40 aldoyle: yse sports_mind is my Skype name
21:02:46 dlaufenberg: I'm at the Googleplex in Mountain View, CA
21:03:02 dlaufenberg: for the Google Geo Institute, today and tomorrow
21:03:17 dlaufenberg: I can get somewhere quieter
21:03:19 dlaufenberg: ;)
21:05:44 SusanEttenheim: al trying to call you...
21:06:20 SusanEttenheim: al I'll keep trying..
21:06:34 aldoyle: might be spotty due to weather, let me try calling you...shat's your skype name21:06:48 SusanEttenheim: I have to call you to call you into the skype conference
21:06:54 SusanEttenheim: but let me try again no?
21:08:19 SusanEttenheim: hi laganrat welcome!
21:08:30 SusanEttenheim: everyone... please introduce yourself
21:08:33 laganrat: HI Sue. It's Bill
21:08:37 SusanEttenheim: and wilson - welcome to you too!
21:08:45 SusanEttenheim: ahhh Bill!
21:08:49 SusanEttenheim: how's your summer???
21:09:18 laganrat: Still with the writng project...Another week. Yourself?
21:10:20 SusanEttenheim: pretty good!
21:10:31 Paul Allison: http://www.nwp.org/cs/public/print/nwp_au/228
21:10:36 Paul Allison: http://www.anndobie.com/Ann_Brewster_Dobie/Welcome.html
21:16:21 dlaufenberg: sorry I can't stay longer... am off to dinner. Google really knows how to feed people. :)
21:19:56 SusanEttenheim: hi vicky welcome
21:20:04 SusanEttenheim: please introduce yourself!
21:21:48 Vicky Sedgwick: I'm a K-8 Computer Teacher in the Los Angeles area.
21:21:54 Paul Allison: http://poetsforlivingwaters.org
21:22:03 Wilson: Hi, Wilson here - Listening for first time as part of PD for Web2.0 - I am a computer teacher in nyc
21:22:21 SusanEttenheim: welcome wilson!
21:22:27 SusanEttenheim: welcome veisman
21:22:34 SusanEttenheim: please introduce yourself!
21:22:42 SusanEttenheim: wilson- I actually think you and I have met
21:22:52 veisman: Vincent Eisman, 4th grade teacher- Am I in the right place?21:23:06 SusanEttenheim: are you here for Teachers Teaching Teachers?
21:23:13 veisman: That's right.21:23:14 SusanEttenheim: do you have sound veisman?
21:23:19 SusanEttenheim: welcome!
21:23:30 SusanEttenheim: where do you teach 4th grade?
21:23:36 veisman: Yep.
21:23:53 Vicky Sedgwick: What was that 2nd site?
21:24:03 SusanEttenheim: great - are you planning on working with the oil spill this fall?
21:24:09 Paul Allison: http://www.nwp.org/cs/public/print/nwp_au/228
21:24:29 veisman: Oakdale, CA. Yes on oil spill for me.
21:24:38 SusanEttenheim: is that what you meant vicky?
21:25:18 SusanEttenheim: please join in with your comments and thoughts and questions!
21:26:12 veisman: Okay, so I just stumbled on this gig (via twitter) and can't stay this time. Is there a schedule of future chats and events?
21:26:44 Wilson: This is interesting - I used to work off shore in LA in 1976 - I know all these places and have worked on the rigs as a roustabout - I am glad I can hear what teachers are doing in Louisiana and the Gulf.
21:27:32 SusanEttenheim: veisman this will be published as a podcast along with the other conversations that we've already had on this topic
21:27:38 SusanEttenheim: I hope they will be helpful for you
21:27:45 SusanEttenheim: at teachersteachingteachers.org
21:27:49 SusanEttenheim: and edtechtalk.com
21:29:40 SusanEttenheim: wilson do you use skype?
21:29:51 SusanEttenheim: I'd love to call you into the call even for just a few minutes
21:30:16 Wilson: no - not at this computer - sorry can't do.
21:30:51 SusanEttenheim: ah ok
21:30:54 SusanEttenheim: another time!
21:31:02 SusanEttenheim: wilson which school are you with?
21:31:25 Wilson: I am at IS 162 in the South Bronx
21:31:39 SusanEttenheim: ahh well welcome!
21:32:20 SusanEttenheim: again
21:32:46 SusanEttenheim: hi timberlaneteach welcome!
21:32:52 SusanEttenheim: where and what do you teach?
21:33:09 timberlaneteach: New Hampshire
21:33:20 SusanEttenheim: what grades and subjects?
21:33:24 timberlaneteach: I am a technology integrator fro middle and high school21:33:43 timberlaneteach: I taught grade 6 language arts for 23 years
21:33:50 SusanEttenheim: glad you could join us tonight! are you planning to integrate information about the oil spill this fall
21:33:52 SusanEttenheim: ?
21:34:31 timberlaneteach: I would like to have the information available for teachers that will be teaching about it
21:34:59 Rebecca: I am a technology integrator in a middle school as well, and prior to that a 7th grade computer teacher, and prior to that a postsecondary technology teacher from places as far as Alaska--now in PA
21:35:26 timberlaneteach: I love my job
21:35:41 timberlaneteach: last year was my first year and it was a new position for the district
21:35:57 SusanEttenheim: hi renee welcome!
21:36:03 Rebecca: This new position has given me new life in education. Teaching teachers is great, and with technology, even greater
21:36:12 Renee Edwards: What are you chatting about?
21:36:24 timberlaneteach: I feel the same way Rebecca
21:36:31 SusanEttenheim: great tim and rebecca
21:36:34 timberlaneteach: I also just joined the chat
21:36:36 SusanEttenheim: hi al welcome
21:36:45 SusanEttenheim: please introduce yourself here!
21:37:07 Renee Edwards: Hi. I am Renee. I am a teacher in NYC.
21:37:23 SusanEttenheim: Hi Renee!
21:37:26 aldoyle: Al from a cabin in Maine where I teach game design and animation at a summer camp for the arts.
21:37:43 SusanEttenheim: Al what's the url?
21:37:50 timberlaneteach: Al sounds like a fun job
21:37:58 laganrat: Time to tuck in Tom. Good night!
21:38:01 SusanEttenheim: how old are your students?
21:38:08 timberlaneteach: what do you use to teach animation
21:38:14 Renee Edwards: I teach 5th grade.
21:38:43 SusanEttenheim: Renee - is this the renee who I know :)
21:38:58 aldoyle: http://www.medolark.com
21:39:10 aldoyle: Students 8-16
21:39:18 SusanEttenheim: are you on wireless from the cabin?
21:39:31 aldoyle: yes, w- fi
21:39:40 SusanEttenheim: that's impressive and in a storm...
21:39:48 SusanEttenheim: I have trouble here in storms!
21:39:51 Renee Edwards: I don't think so.
21:39:53 aldoyle: Im listening on iTunes
21:40:16 SusanEttenheim: al did you see timberlaneteach's question about what you are using to teach animation?
21:40:35 Renee Edwards: It's great that we can use technology to record events in such a timely fashion and also share it.
21:40:41 SusanEttenheim: al have your students over the summer been talking about the oil spill?
21:40:43 aldoyle: For animation we use Flash, iStopmotion, Pencil (free)
21:41:36 Rebecca: The spill is sureal for kids in other parts of the country
21:42:04 SusanEttenheim: Did you talk about it in the spring?
21:42:04 timberlaneteach: I cant hear her
21:42:14 SusanEttenheim: too quiet?
21:42:32 SusanEttenheim: Paul is louder for me too but maybe you can turn up your volume?21:42:36 timberlaneteach: she is too quiet compared to him
21:42:38 Rebecca: It is only something that they see on the news and are not immersed. For us here in the north, we need to try to engage them in this tragedy
21:42:52 aldoyle: We are in a bubble at the camp but the teachers I work with have talked alot about the oil spill. We have teachers and Nurses from both coasts of Florida; the oil spill is often a topic of dinner conversation sa we are in the middle of the woods
21:42:54 SusanEttenheim: That's the good and bad about listening live. When Paul edits the audio, he adjusts that
21:43:21 Renee Edwards: I am participating in an online summer camp for teachers about the oil spill. We are discussing inquiry questions and how we can make the spill in the Gulf relevant to students throughtout the country and the world.
21:43:38 SusanEttenheim: hi gail! welcome!
21:43:52 Vicky Sedgwick: Renee, I'm participating in the PBL Camp also.
21:44:07 Renee Edwards: What grade level do you teach?
21:44:12 Gail Desler: HI Susan - rough time finding a connection tonight. So glad I'm in
21:44:16 veisman: Yeah, me too- PBL Camp
21:44:26 SusanEttenheim: glad you're here!
21:44:41 SusanEttenheim: oh wow!
21:44:45 SusanEttenheim: great to have you all here!
21:44:45 Rebecca: Renee, will there be a place you will be posting the inquiring questions?
21:44:54 Gail Desler: @ Susan - thanks so much for giving me your place in the PBL camp!
21:45:15 SusanEttenheim: oh gail did it work out?
21:45:19 SusanEttenheim: great
21:45:22 Gail Desler: Yes!
21:45:56 SusanEttenheim: oh great!
21:46:14 Vicky Sedgwick: I think the site sounds like it is going to be an amazing resource for those of us not in the gulf. It's difficult to connect sometimes so this is a way our students to connect.
21:46:31 Rebecca: Does this site have a URL
21:46:54 Vicky Sedgwick: There's already a voicesfromthegulf site - about Katrina
21:47:16 Renee Edwards: Yes. I collaborated with five other teachers. The title is "It Effects us All".
21:48:03 Renee Edwards: The wiki is PBLcamp.pbworks.com
21:48:28 Gail Desler: @Renee - just started looking at that in the wiki today
21:49:41 SusanEttenheim: hi casey welcome!
21:49:57 Renee Edwards: @ Gail. If you would like you can join us
21:50:38 CaseyDaugherty: Hi! I can't hear the conversation right now, but I thought I'd check out the chat room.
21:50:41 Renee Edwards: We have to find a time to meet and plan together.
21:50:44 Rebecca: Will next wednesday's broadcast be a continuation of this topic?
21:50:56 Gail Desler: @Renee - Thanks. I joined the PBL group this week, so am still a bit of a lurker - but am very interested in connecting teachers in my district to this project.
21:51:56 Renee Edwards: The title said teachers teaching teachers. Not sure what the topic is for next week.
21:52:47 Gail Desler: @Susan - can you answer Rebecca's question?
21:53:03 SusanEttenheim: hum probably!
21:53:32 SusanEttenheim: ok official answer from Paul - yes!
21:53:43 SusanEttenheim: ahh did you hear this everyone!
21:53:57 SusanEttenheim: can you all come on next Wed and tell us what you are working on?
21:54:15 Gail Desler: @Susan - Yes!
21:54:30 SusanEttenheim: great gail... everyone else?
21:54:30 CaseyDaugherty: Sounds like a great topic to follow and learn from!
21:54:37 Wilson: gotta go -
21:54:50 SusanEttenheim: come by any wednesday wilson
21:55:48 Gail Desler: Paul - Google what to connect with Haitian story?
21:55:57 SusanEttenheim: ayiti
21:56:14 Vicky Sedgwick: I love the idea of having students create a game in Scratch or other game maker.
21:56:19 Gail Desler: Thanks @ Susan - Will google it now.
21:56:19 Renee Edwards: Games for Social Change and Games for Learning are two sites that you can check out?
21:57:38 Gail Desler: Googled ayiti - first site up = http://www.unicef.org/voy/explore/rights/explore_3142.html - and more. Thanks for resources!
21:59:56 aldoyle: Globaloria als produces "issues-based" game design with kids:
22:00:09 aldoyle: Globaloria: http://www.worldwideworkshop.org/programs/globaloria
22:01:01 aldoyle: Goodnite, all... thanks for the fish!
22:01:31 Renee Edwards: Goodnight. Talk to you next week.
22:02:35 Gail Desler: Good night, Renee. See you at PBL Camp
22:04:27 Rebecca: Thank you to everyone for your involvement in this issue and how to make it into a curriculum for teachers to use across the country
22:06:14 veisman: Thanks, Susan. Subscribed on iTunes.
22:06:17 veisman: bye
22:07:43 Gail Desler: Toasting my wine glass at Jeff L
22:07:54 SusanEttenheim: night all!
22:08:19 Vicky Sedgwick: Thanks & good night.
22:08:21 Gail Desler: Night all.

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